MaxwellH

First time creating an account to post here, though I’ve been lurking for a while. I’ve been wondering about a similar question for a while now too; i.e. how necessary is it to have a PhD in Statistics/Biostatistics to advance your career in the private industry. From what I’ve gathered looking at job postings, on the surface there doesn’t seem to be many limits for those that only have a masters degree. A couple of example job listings below: Senior Statistician - Amylin Senior Manager, Statistics - Takeda Pharm. Biostatistician - Genzyme …these posting are commonly what I’ll see; a (bio)statistician job is open to people holding different levels of degrees, with more work experience required for people holding lower degrees. Statsguy: From your experience would you say that even though someone with an M.S. in statistics could technically apply for these positions, the majority of the time the job would go to the candidate with the PhD? I realize a definitive answer isn't really possible, and that sometimes there is a discrepancy between what a company will “list” as who can apply for a position, and who they will actually hire at the end of the day. Also, I’m not looking for any kind of analysis on the specific duties for the above job listings; they’re just example postings. I’ve seen a number of postings (for the pharmaceutical industry and others) where they say they are only accepting PhD candidates a listed position. I’m curious about the situation where a job posting says it’s open to both M.S. and PhD candidates…and rather the M.S. candidates are just being shown a carrot on a string.